Page 27 - Approved Social Media Framework and Guidelines

Annexure II: Use of Social Media by Government Agencies

Social media is used by several government organisations to engage with various
stakeholders for the purposes of disseminating information, seeking inputs into policy
making, recruitment, providing access to services, educating stakeholders, etc. In this
section, a brief description of use of social media by different governments across the world
and some examples from India has been presented to demonstrate the varied use of social
media by government agencies.

International Experiences

Across the world, various government agencies at Federal, state and local government level
are using the various social media platforms to interact with their stakeholders. While many
local government agencies including Mayor’s offices of many cities in United States use
social media for community building and even recruitment, most state and federal agencies
use social media for either seeking expert opinion or creating/influencing public opinion.
Many agencies at federal level are also using this platform to gauge public reactions on
upcoming/proposed policy measures. Given below are a few examples from across the
world.

United States of America

Many federal and state government agencies are actively engaging with their stakeholders
using social media. Some examples of use of social media are

· The White House Facebook Page and The White House Twitter profile –
WhiteHouse.gov

· State Department Facebook Page

· U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Facebook Page

· US Army Facebook Page

In addition to established platforms created by private organisations, US government has
also created its own platforms. A social network Web site called GovLoop.com was created
within the US Department of Homeland Security to share experiences and best practices.

Australia
The Australian Public Service Commission in 2008 announced a set of interim protocols to

agencies that are using or planning to use online media, including blogs, as a means of
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